Dealing Effectively With Crowded Jails - A Manual for Judges

• NCJ Number: 99463
• Author(s): J J Perlstein; D A Henry
• Date Published: 1986
• Length: 69 pages
• Grant Number(s): 84-IJ-CX-009
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Corporate Author: Pretrial Services Resource Ctr
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This manual describes procedures judges can use to make more effective use of detention space and improve case processing and the administration of justice.

Abstract

The manual first focuses on judicial case processing activities that impact jail admissions and confinement length. Judges' decisions concerning issuance of summonses, bail and release conditions, bail review, continuances, and sentencing bear directly on the number of persons in jail and their confinement length. The manual also describes judicial administrative activities that can impact the jail population. Descriptions of exemplary judicial actions in various jurisdictions throughout the Nation pertain to case delay reduction, vertical case management, executive committees to promote cooperation among judges, meetings and directives, and delegated release authority. Judges in other jurisdictions have impacted jail overcrowding through delegated release authority, authorization to deny jail admission to persons charged with misdemeanors, expanded bail setting, early case disposition, and a rule providing incentive for early pleas. A jail population management plan is also described. 72 references.